Air conditioner

ABSTRACT

An air discharge apparatus usable with an air conditioner includes a body formed with a suction opening and a discharge opening, a blowing fan arranged in the body to circulate air, and a partition to separate a suction path defined between the suction opening and the blowing fan from a discharge path defined between the blowing fan and the discharge opening. The partition has a vortex-restraint portion, which protrudes into the discharge path to occupy a portion of a bottom region of the cross sectional area of the discharge path, thereby serving to prevent generation of a vortex of air in the discharge path.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2005-94532, filed on Oct. 7, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept relates to an air discharge apparatus, and more particularly, to an air discharge apparatus to prevent generation of a vortex of air in a discharge path defined between a fan and a discharge opening, and an air conditioner having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, an air conditioner is an apparatus that is used for adjusting the temperature or humidity of air by heat transfer generated upon evaporation and condensation of a refrigerant. The air conditioner is classified into a separated-type air conditioner and an integral-type air conditioner.

The separated-type air conditioner is configured such that an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger are mounted in an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, respectively, while being connected to each other via a refrigerant pipe. On the other hand, the integral-type air conditioner is configured such that all constituent components to make up a refrigeration cycle are mounted in a single body. The integral-type air conditioner is operated while being partially located in a room on an inside of a window while the remaining part is located on an outside of the window. Such an integral-type air conditioner is often referred to as a window-type air conditioner.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view illustrating an indoor part of a conventional window-type air conditioner. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional window-type air conditioner includes a body 1 having a suction opening 2 and a discharge opening 3 formed at a front surface thereof, a blowing fan 4 mounted in the body 1 to circulate indoor air, and a heat exchanger 5 located between the suction opening 2 and the blowing fan 4 to perform heat exchange between the suctioned indoor air and a refrigerant. A partition 8 is arranged above the indoor heat exchanger 5 to separate a suction path 6, which is defined as a path between the suction opening 2 and the blowing fan 4, from a discharge path 7, which is defined as a path between the blowing fan 4 and the discharge opening 3. With this configuration, if the blowing fan 4 is rotated by a drive motor 4 a, the indoor air is suctioned into the body 1 via the suction opening 2, and passes through the blowing fan 4 after exchanging heat with the refrigerant in the heat exchanger 5. Then, the air is discharged from the blowing fan 4 in a radial direction thereof, so that it is discharged into a room by way of the discharge path 7 and the discharge opening 3 formed at the front surface of the body 1.

It can be easily understood from FIG. 1, that after the air is discharged in a radial direction by the blowing fan 4, the air must suddenly change its flow direction in order to travel down the discharge path toward the discharge opening 3. However, discharging the air causes an upper location P of the discharge path 7 to have a higher pressure than a lower location Q. Due to such a pressure difference, the discharge air inevitably moves from the upper location P to the lower location Q to produce a vortex of air. The vortex of air has a direct effect on a discharge flow rate, resulting in degradation in the performance of the air conditioner and increasing flow noise of air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present general inventive concept provides an air discharge apparatus capable of preventing generation of a vortex of air in a discharge path defined between a discharge opening and a blowing fan, and an air conditioner having the same.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing an air conditioner including a body formed with a suction opening and a discharge opening, a blowing fan arranged in the body to circulate air, and a partition to separate a suction path defined between the suction opening and the blowing fan from a discharge path defined between the blowing fan and the discharge opening, the partition includes a vortex-restraint portion, which protrudes into the discharge path to occupy a portion of a bottom region of a cross sectional area of the discharge path, to prevent generation of a vortex of air in the discharge path.

The vortex-restraint portion may have a path-expanding portion to allow the cross sectional area of the discharge path to increase toward the discharge opening.

The path-expanding portion may include a slope that is downwardly sloped toward the discharge opening or may have a step shape descending in the direction of the discharge opening.

The vortex-restraint portion may be located in a predetermined region of the discharge path that exhibits a relatively low discharge flow rate. In particular, the vortex-restraint portion may be located on a left side of a rotational center of the blowing fan when the blowing fan rotates clockwise.

The air conditioner may further include an indoor heat exchanger arranged beneath the partition, and the partition may have a flat plane portion formed at the front side of the vortex-restraint portion to come into contact with the indoor heat exchanger.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing an air conditioner including a body formed with a suction opening and a discharge opening, a blowing fan arranged in the body to circulate air, and a partition to separate a suction side of the blowing fan from a discharge side of the blowing fan to define an air discharge path along with the body, the partition mounted with a vortex-restraint member, which protrudes into the discharge path to prevent discharge air from flowing backward in a bottom region of the discharge path.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing an air conditioner, comprising a body having a suction opening, a discharge opening, an uppercase, and a bottom plate, a blowing fan disposed between the upper case and the bottom plate to generate an air path between the suction opening and the discharge opening, and a partition disposed between the upper case and the bottom plate to divide the air path into a suction path from the suction opening to the blowing fan and a discharge path from the blowing fan to the discharge opening, and having a first surface spaced-apart from the upper case by a first distance to define a first cross-sectional area perpendicular to a discharge direction of the discharge path, and a second surface spaced-apart from the upper case by a second distance to define a second cross-sectional area perpendicular to the discharge direction of the discharge path.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view illustrating part of a conventional window-type air conditioner;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the air conditioner of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view illustrating the air conditioner of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view illustrating an alternative example of a vortex-restraint portion provided in the air conditioner of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a graph comparing a discharge flow rate of the air conditioner according to embodiments of the present general inventive concept, with that of a conventional air conditioner, at the same angular speed; and

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view illustrating an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept includes a body 10 defining a predetermined interior space therein. The body 10 may include an upper case 11, a front panel 12, a rear panel (not shown), and a bottom plate 13. The interior space of the body 10 is divided into front and rear sections by use of a central partition 14. The front section of the body 10 defines a first heat-exchange chamber 20, and the rear section defines a second heat-exchange chamber 30. The first heat-exchange chamber 20 may be an indoor heat exchange chamber, and the second heat-exchange chamber 30 may be an outdoor heat-exchange chamber.

The outdoor heat-exchange chamber 30 of FIG. 2 is provided with a compressor 31 to compress a refrigerant to obtain a high-pressure and high-temperature refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger 32 to perform a heat exchange between the high-pressure and high-temperature refrigerant and outside air, and a propeller fan 33 to circulate the outside air. Conversely, the heat-exchange chamber 30 may be used to obtain a low-temperature refrigerant to provide a cooling air exchange operation. Therefore, the heat-exchange chamber 30 may provide air heating and/or cooling operations via the same air conditioner unit. Also, a fan motor 34 is located at a rear side of the center partition 14. The fan motor 34 serves to drive the propeller fan 33 and a blowing fan 21 that is located in the front section of the body 10.

The upper case 11 of the body 10 has a plurality of inlet holes 15 formed at upper and opposite lateral surfaces thereof, so that the outside air is introduced into the outdoor heat-exchange chamber 30 in accordance with a rotation of the propeller fan 33. The rear panel (not shown) of the body 10 is formed with an outlet hole, so that the heat-exchanged air having passed through the outdoor heat exchanger 32 is discharged to an outside of the air conditioner. Also, a suction opening 16 and a discharge opening 17 are formed at the front panel 12 of the body 10 to suction and discharge indoor air. The discharge opening 17 is provided with one or more blades 17 a to adjust a discharge direction of the indoor air.

The indoor heat-exchange chamber 20 of FIG. 2 is provided with the blowing fan 21 to circulate the indoor air. The indoor heat-exchange chamber 20 includes a suction path 22 defined between the suction opening 16 and a suction side 21 a of the blowing fan 21, and a discharge path 23 defined between the discharge opening 17 and a discharge side 21 b of the blowing fan 21. An indoor heat exchanger 24 is arranged in the suction path 22 to perform heat exchange between the suctioned indoor air and the refrigerant. The heat-exchange chamber 20 may be used to provide a cooling air exchange operation. Therefore, the heat-exchange chamber 20 may provide both heating and/or cooling operations via the same air conditioner unit. The blowing fan 21 is a centrifugal fan configured to axially suction the indoor air and to discharge the indoor air in a radial direction. The discharged air is guided to the discharge opening 17 along a fan casing 21 c.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the suction path 22 and the discharge path 23 are separated from each other by a partition 40 arranged above the indoor heat exchanger 24.

Now, the operation of the air conditioner having the above-described configuration will be briefly explained.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, if electric power is applied to the air conditioner to rotate the blowing fan 21, the indoor air is suctioned via the suction opening 16. The suctioned indoor air is heat exchanged with the refrigerant while passing through the indoor heat exchanger 24 arranged in the suction path 22 prior to being suctioned into the blowing fan 21. After that, the heat-exchanged air is discharged from the blowing fan 21 in the radial direction, and a dynamic pressure of the discharged air is converted into a static pressure while passing through the fan casing 21c. Finally, the air is supplied into a room by way of the discharge path 23 and the discharge opening 17.

As stated above, the air is discharged in the radial direction from the blowing fan 21. Thus, under the effect of the fluid inertia phenomenon, most of the air is driven into a top region 23 a of the discharge path 23, and only a relatively small amount of the air passes through a bottom region 23 b of the discharge path 23. This phenomenon is exacerbated if a size of the air conditioner, more particularly, a size of the fan casing 21 c, is reduced such that the fan casing 21 c has no sufficient path in a region adjacent to the discharge side 21 b of the blowing fan 21. That is, if the fan casing 21 c has no path sufficient to allow the dynamic pressure of the air to be converted into the static pressure in a vicinity of the discharge side 21 b of the blowing fan 21, the air discharged from the blowing fan 21 will have an increased speed in the radial direction, thereby being driven more substantially towards the top region 23 a of the discharge path 23. Such an unbalance in the flow of air between the top and bottom regions 23 a and 23 b of the discharge path 23 results in a vortex of air moving from the top region 23 a to the bottom region 23 b. The vortex of air can reduce a rate of air discharge from the discharge path 23, and may have a negative effect upon the performance of the air conditioner.

In order to prevent generation of the vortex of air, the partition 40 is formed with a vortex-restraint portion 41 protruding into the discharge path 23. The vortex-restraint portion 41 occupies the bottom region 23 b of the discharge path 23 that shows a relatively low flow rate of air, thereby preventing the air passing through the top region 23 a of the discharge path 23 from completely moving into the bottom region 23 b.

Referring to FIG. 4, the blowing fan 21 has a first portion 21-1, a second portion 21-2, and a third portion 21-3 generating respective air currents R1, R2 and R3 flowing through the discharge path 23. The vortex-restraint portion 41 provided in the discharge path 23 prevents the vortex of air from being formed when one or more of the air currents R1, R2 and R3 are mixed together. For example, the air current R1 that flows in the top region 23 a of the discharge path 23 may be deflected by the upper case 11 of the body 10 in a downward direction towards the bottom region 23 b according to a conventional air conditioner. That is, the air current R1 may flow into a path location of the air currents R2 and R3 and reduce a rate of air discharge in the discharge path 23 during the discharge of air by the blowing fan 21. The vortex-restraint portion 41 prevents the air current R1 from creating the vortex of air and reducing the rate of the flow of air currents R2 and R3 according to the present embodiment.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the vortex-restraint portion 41 has a path-expanding portion 41 a or 41 b to allow a cross sectional area of the discharge path 23 to increase toward the discharge opening 17. That is, the path-expanding portion 41 a or 41 b serves to prevent the vortex-restraint portion 41 protruding into the discharge path 23 from reducing the cross sectional area of the discharge path 23 to disadvantageously cause a decrease in flow rate. In an example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the path-expanding portion 41 a takes the form of a slope, which is downwardly sloped toward the discharge opening 17. Also, in an alternative example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the path-expanding portion 41 b has a step shape descending in the direction of the discharge opening 17.

The vortex-restraint portion 41 is provided in a specific region of the discharge path 23 that ordinarily exhibits a relatively low discharge flow rate. When the blowing fan 21 rotates clockwise with respect to the front panel 12 as illustrated in FIG. 3, the air is driven in a rightward direction. In this case, it is possible that the vortex-restraint portion 41 is located on a left side of a rotational center of the blowing fan 21 within the discharge path 23, in order to minimize a flow resistance of the discharge air caused by a protruding portion of the vortex-restraint portion 41.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the partition 40 may be further provided with a flat plane portion 42 at a front side of the vortex-restraint portion 41 to come into contact with the indoor heat exchanger 24. The flat plane portion 42 serves to prevent the suctioned indoor air from passing through the indoor heat exchanger 24 directly to the discharge path 23 so as not to be heat exchanged. If the vortex-restraint portion 41 is formed throughout an upper end of the indoor heat exchanger 24 without the flat plane portion 42, the suctioned indoor air that enters through the suction opening 16 will be introduced into a space between the upper end of the indoor heat exchanger 24 and the vortex-restraint portion 41, thereby failing to effectively heat exchange the indoor air in the indoor heat exchanger 24. Suctioned indoor air that is not effectively heat exchanged can consequently cause degradation in the performance of the air conditioner.

FIG. 6 is a graph comparing a discharge flow rate of the air conditioner according to one or more embodiments of the present general inventive concept, with that of a conventional air conditioner, at the same angular speed (rpm). It can be easily understood from FIG. 6 that, as a result of preventing generation of the vortex of air in the discharge path 23 by use of the vortex-restraint portion 41, the air conditioner of the present general inventive concept achieves a discharge flow rate estimated at approximately 5% higher than a conventional air conditioner having a flat partition in the discharge path thereof.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view illustrating an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment that is different from the above-described embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, in which the partition 40 is integrally formed to include the vortex-restraint portion 41. In the present embodiment of FIG. 7, a vortex-restraint member 60 is coupled to a partition 50 having a flat plate shape to prevent the discharge air from flowing backward into the bottom region 23 b of the discharge path 23. Also, the partition 50 serves to prevent the suctioned indoor air from passing through the indoor heat exchanger 24 directly to the discharge path 23 so as not to be heat exchanged. Other similar configuration and operational features illustrated in FIG. 7, except for those described above may be identical to the embodiments described in FIGS. 4 and 5, and accordingly no further description will be provided.

As apparent from the above description, the present general inventive concept provides an air conditioner having an air discharge apparatus, which is designed to prevent generation of a vortex of air in a discharge path 23 defined between a blowing fan 21 and a discharge opening 17, thereby achieving an increased flow rate of discharge air.

Further, according to the present general inventive concept, the air conditioner can reduce flow noise of the discharge air, which would normally be caused by a vortex of air.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. An air conditioner comprising: a body formed with a suction opening and a discharge opening; a blowing fan arranged in the body to circulate air; and a partition to separate a suction path defined between the suction opening and the blowing fan from a discharge path defined between the blowing fan and the discharge opening, the partition comprising a vortex-restraint portion, which protrudes into the discharge path to occupy a portion of a bottom region of a cross sectional area of the discharge path, to prevent generation of a vortex of air in the discharge path.
 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the vortex-restraint portion comprises a path-expanding portion to allow the cross sectional area of the discharge path to increase toward the discharge opening.
 3. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the path-expanding portion comprises a slope that is downwardly sloped toward the discharge opening.
 4. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the path-expanding portion comprises a step shape descending in a direction to the discharge opening.
 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the vortex-restraint portion is located in a predetermined region of the discharge path to exhibit a relatively low discharge flow rate.
 6. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein the vortex-restraint portion is located on a left side of a rotation center of the blowing fan when the blowing fan rotates clockwise.
 7. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein: the air conditioner further comprises an indoor heat exchanger arranged beneath the partition; and the partition comprises a flat plane portion formed at the front side of the vortex-restraint portion to come into contact with the indoor heat exchanger.
 8. An air conditioner comprising: a body formed with a suction opening and a discharge opening; a blowing fan arranged in the body to circulate air; and a partition to separate a suction side of the blowing fan from a discharge side of the blowing fan to define an air discharge path along with the body, the partition mounted with a vortex-restraint member, which protrudes into the discharge path to prevent discharge air from flowing backward in a bottom region of the discharge path.
 9. The air conditioner according to claim 8, wherein the vortex-restraint member comprises a path-expanding portion to allow a cross sectional area of the discharge path to increase toward the discharge opening.
 10. The air conditioner according to claim 8, wherein the vortex-restraint member is located on a left side of a rotational center axis of the blowing fan when the blowing fan rotates clockwise.
 11. An air conditioner, comprising: a body having a suction opening, a discharge opening, an uppercase, and a bottom plate; a blowing fan disposed between the upper case and the bottom plate to generate an air path between the suction opening and the discharge opening; and a partition disposed between the upper case and the bottom plate to divide the air path into a suction path from the suction opening to the blowing fan and a discharge path from the blowing fan to the discharge opening, and having a first surface spaced-apart from the upper case by a first distance to define a first cross-sectional area perpendicular to a discharge direction of the discharge path, and a second surface spaced-apart from the upper case by a second distance to define a second cross-sectional area perpendicular to the discharge direction of the discharge path.
 12. The air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the second surface is disposed between the suction opening and the first surface, and the second cross-sectional area is greater than the first cross-sectional area.
 13. The air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the first surface and the second surface are disposed in the discharge direction of the discharge path between the partition and the upper case.
 14. The air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the first surface and the second surface are disposed in a line perpendicular to the discharge direction of the discharge path.
 15. The air conditioner according to claim 14, wherein the first cross-sectional area varies according to a distance from the suction opening.
 16. The air conditioner according to claim 14, wherein the first distance of the first surface from the upper case varies according to a distance from the blowing fan.
 17. The air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the blowing fan generates first and second air currents along the discharge direction of the discharge path between the partition and the blowing fan, and the first and second surfaces form the discharge path with the upper case such that the first air current does not interfere with the second air current.
 18. The air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the first air current is formed along the upper case, and the second air current formed along one of the first and second surfaces of the partition. 